lauren and blair

Here is another commission I recently completed: a wedding gift for a happy couple.

picture-taker

A recent commission:

My client let me use chartreuse to my hearts content.

bagpipes

This was a fun project. I painted portraits of this cute couple, along with the instruments that brought them together.

Yep. Classic “boy-bagpiper meets girl-bagpiper” story.

Ryan (pictured top) is a phenomenal photographer. I really love her portrait work. Jamie (below) is a maker of bagpipe reeds.

engaged

A thousand congratulations to my good friend+sister+housemate Joey, who recently got engaged to my other good friend+colleague+future-brother-in-law Byron!

Instead of the traditional ring, Byron gave Joey this amazing antique locket. The tiny portraits were commissioned from a local illustrator (wink).

photo credit: Joey Armstrong

steel audrey (sneak peek)

So, there is this pretty incredible local band called Steel Audrey. They are releasing their first EP soon, and guess who gets to design and illustrate it?

Here is a glimpse at what I have been working on:

Want to see more of the picture? Go on and look at Steel Audrey’s facebook page.

2nd page news

A couple weeks ago I was interviewed for a Chinese-language newspaper called Ming Pao. Last week I got a sample of the printed paper. Look, the article about me got a whole page!

Actually, I did have to share a bit of space with the horoscopes.

So fun to see all the photos of me and my studio and my paintings in print. And look at all those words characters about me! Thanks Kate the journalist who wrote the article!

I once studied Mandarin for a year you know, and I can still remember a little of it. I am pretty sure that this part here says how I am the best artist in all of Vancouver, and possibly even the world.*

* may or may not be true – believe at your own discretion

on display

This is what I did today.

I am getting better at setting up my work. It usually takes around 500 hours to get everything organized and figure out where to place stuff on the wall. But today I did it in 2 hours. Nice. I took myself out for coffee afterwards.

My work* is on display for February/March in the lobby at Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver. They have some pretty sweet programs there (theatre for kids!) Also, I heard that Fred Penner will be performing there next month.

* originals and prints

rag rug

For the longest time, I’ve been collecting my old jersey-knit t-shirts, instead of bringing them to the thrift store. My plan was: I’ll build a loom and weave a rug from the fabrics! Brilliant, no? Then in a moment of cruel honesty, I realized: I will never build a loom.

But I still wanted to make a rug.

So I taught myself how to crochet. Turns out it’s really easy. And a rag rug is the best
no-pressure project to begin with because, frankly, the messier the better.

Now every day I stand on my beautiful/ugly rug at the kitchen sink, and wash dishes with joy.

No. That’s a lie. I still don’t like to wash dishes.

One of a Kind Vancouver



I’m here! Come visit!

she was grandma’s favourite

It was so hard to choose! When I first read Maraysha’s submission on Friday, my gut response was “yes! that’s the one!” But then there were so many other great title ideas, and I seriously agonized over the decision.

In the end though, it was clear: she was grandma’s favourite.

Thanks Maraysha for the title! (“she only eats wild, organic, free range olives” was a major contender too.) I have two tickets to the One of a Kind show for you! I’ll connect with you elsewhere to arrange delivery.